129. Michael and Juliet

Marcus

“Come on Soren! You know that’s not what the book is about... It’s about the personification of death….”

“How can you say that?” Soren retorted. “It’s from the viewpoint of a child. It’s about educating people of what really happened.”

I sat back on the chair. Staring at them. They had been debating for an hour. It was kinda fun to watch them fight. It never ended pretty. After some time, they both returned to our native language. By that time, it was getting really heated. She got so mad that she always left. Soren had found his spine and didn’t take any crap from her or anyone. It never led anywhere, and I wondered… Louis never said anything regarding the two. Juliet never once brought it up.

Michael was next to me. We checked the list of things we still had to discuss and organize. The door opened. A tired Cindy and her mom came into the room. Sammy and Miné were fighting again. The little human girl running for her life, screaming. Sammy was still in her Riphath form and was simply impossible. She ate like crazy. We had to save Katty a few times. Eating a human was one thing that could calm her down.

Juliet forgot about Soren. He walked with her, grabbing Miné and picking her up out of harm’s way. Juliet grabbed Sammy at the scruff of her neck. There was enough fur for her to get a good chunk in. She held her far away from her body. The tiny terror kicking and growling, scratching at her mom like a cat. “Sammy!” Juliet shook her.

“Don’t shake the baby, Juliet.” I mocked from the side.

“This thing is not a baby, and I… am her mother!”

Her terrible two’s were more than a life crisis in the house. It started gradually when she was eighteen months… Around the time… Our family started drifting apart. Juliet began to work non-stop… Sammy didn’t like it and had not relented. We had to keep her confined. She would run and run. We were so scared that she would teleport and end up in the freaking pink water. Cindy and her mom would keep her on earth during the day for safety… Hoping in the desert, she would not get far… We had chipped her, just in case. Her room and the one we were in was a confinement chamber. There was no coming and going from there.

We were desperate to get her to Chris. We needed a dad to rub his thumb over his child’s forehead and make her sleep. Give us authority over her with another freaking marking… It wasn’t about getting Juliet to Caleb anymore but getting Sammy to Chris.

Louis came walking in. “I think we got it….”

When Sammy saw him, he manifested and growled at her. It was almost the only thing that could make her calm down and grab onto Juliet.

There were three other people with him. The scientists that we had to find… Ahasuerus was clever in hiding all the people he had accumulated in his office as King... They were scattered, and all documentation was gone. It had taken us many months to set up our own team to get that far. Far enough… that we had one location left. The other two didn’t pan out.

One was a city with a wall built around it. So big that it seemed impossible to be Yaroon. There was no life… And of course, the warning on the gate… That once you went in and left, you would die… We kinda didn’t want to take the chance. The last one was a dud. There was just nothing. We had mapped and found it was the only one on the other side of the planet. Directly across from the scary city… We didn’t know if the Riphaths would have invited Ahasuerus into their midst… Was he really slumming it with them in Yaroon?

Juliet and I had even put on our toughest winter clothes to see what the fuss was about… Why the Riphaths need to migrate north like birds. The only spot we could try was the first one I had landed at. We thought about leaving a message for Chris… Seeing if he visited the five sites… It was completely iced over. The red sand only a faint tint underneath the ice. We would have died if we had stayed there for more than five minutes.

The caves were not so cold. Tolerable. We figured they had to be between Yaroon and Shumaan… When we exited, we made it out just before we got bitten to death… It was well guarded. Ira had made good on his promise.

Louis handed me a glass plate with the new information on it. The numbers and equations were staggering to comprehend. I flipped through page after page, following it. Soren came over and took it from me when I was done. He scanned it… We both shared a look. We passed it to Michael. He took his time. Changed one thing and stood up... “Let’s test it. Who’s turn is it?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Juliet grabbed the thing from Michael and started running. Everyone jumped up and ran after her. Louis was next to her, and they traveled to the station, waving at us.

When we came out the other end, they were already pressing the glass plate into the mechanism on the wall. “Wait here.” She pointed a finger at me. It wasn’t like I was going anywhere... It was a big deal… “Give us thirty seconds and get us back.”

***

Juliet ran out and hugged me around the neck. “It’s Shumaan… and there is no one there! The weather is tolerable.”

I pulled her in. “Now what?” I asked.

She let go of me and locked her fingers behind my neck… “What do you mean?” I pushed her away, her fingers let go, and her hands landed on my shoulders.

“Your traveling with a child into an unknown situation… What if they take Sammy? Who will you take with you? If something happens… We can’t give that stone around your neck back.”

“Okay… I’ve been so preoccupied with finding the spot that I hadn’t thought it through… We have some time.”

“We don’t, Julie… And you want to take Michael, but he can’t eat there. You don’t know how long you might have to hide. Sammy doesn’t disappear with you… I think you must consider the possibility that… I go… Or me and Louis? We can talk….” She forced me to be quiet.

“You’re so boring….” She pointed her finger at me. Louis wanted to say something, and she did the same. She did it a lot when we were giving her grief. It was frustrating not being able to talk for a day. It was the longest it had lasted. That day she was wasted after. But she was probably just bored. She grabbed Michaels’s hand… He smirked and waved at us.

“Juliet! You can’t disappear for an hour or weeks. There it’s months.” They got into a teleporter anyway. I didn’t like the way they were together. Before Michael got taken, he was strong. Busy. Keeping her safe. And like me, focused, taking everything into account.

After the chain incident, I felt like I lived in another dimension. Louis couldn’t be on the same shift as him. They avoided each other. To the point of, no touch, no talk, no eye contact. Michael had told Louis to get out of his head. And even if he could’ve gone against Michael. Louis would always honor it if you asked. We were all there for the right reason. We just needed to get through the next few… weeks. I had a feeling when Chris was back… Everything would be fine.

***

Michael

We got out in our little cabin in the woods. En-gannim woods. Not really trees but large plants. It was a small area that she had the coordinates of and no one else… The little place was on such a remote corner of En-gannim that we were lost when we went there. I had thought the whole planet would be the same everywhere. But En-gannim was beautiful… With different physical attributes on each continent… much like earth.

Juliet was undressing… I picked her up, and she wrapped around me. I kissed her. Her hands took off my shirt. I pressed her into a wall. It ended up hot and heavy in a few seconds. Her hands were all over me. Mine grabbing her and fingers pressing into her. Juliet fisted my hair as I kissed her wherever I could. My hand palmed her breast. She jumped off so she could unclasp my belt.

Since that day in France when Louis completely lost it... I had stepped back. What happened that day was not something I wanted or asked for. I was just as surprised as Louis. I didn’t even think it had anything to do with me… It had broken down the mutual respect between the men. But we did put all the pressure on her and were reaping the backlash.

It had been the weirdest few months. There was no more hierarchy. She just did what she wanted, when she wanted. And for us, it was whoever pushed the most… I wasn’t the pushy type.

When we returned to En-gannim, something happened between her and Louis. He could at least talk to her… He was the only one in her bed at night. I think that was why she had brought me there the first time. She knew nothing would happen if we weren’t miles from the others… I knew I had some issues. I also knew that when Chris came back… I would move a peg down again.

At that moment, my mind wasn’t there. My body didn’t want to listen. I willed myself and stilled her hand. She wanted to undo the buttons on my jeans. I punched the wall softly behind her. Frustrated with myself… How could I walk away from her? “Juliet… honey… it has to stop.”

She pulled my mouth onto hers. “I’m not keeping you busy… Michael. I’m trying to convince you… That you will go with me… What do you want me to pay?”

I pushed off her, buckling my belt again. She bent down and handed me my shirt. She was softer since I had come back. The years of watching her. She was demanding and stubborn. With me, she was… nice… I drew in an irritated breath. Not at her, at myself… I would not be able to say no to her.

“Why do you want me there?” She sat down on the bed topless, and I lit a cigarette, watching her. I would move closer eventually after I had my fill.

She was running a hand through her hair. “I trust you… You’ve always been there… I don’t want to leave you… I would miss you too much… I want to spend time with you… You’re diplomatic and stable… You don’t make me listen to you. And…”

“And… Chris and me?” She nodded.

“Okay, okay!” I walked forward and handed her the cigarette.

“So, it’s because I can’t control you?”

She nodded again. “You will soon… I won’t have to pay anymore.”

“Let’s cross that bridge when Chris is back. Nothing is settled.”

I fell onto the bed next to her. “But… You’ll have to pay for this… We’ll have to sneak out. Leave a note and tell them that they shouldn’t follow. That we are really taking our honeymoon before you go to Caleb. If they fall for it at all.”

Juliet picked up her own clothes and wanted to get dressed. “What are you doing?”

She came up and met my eyes. I dragged the cigarette and smiled. “Dance for me.”

The smile fell. She snorted. “No…” She picked up her panties in a huff, pulling them up.

“Why not?” She blushed from her chest to her cheeks. I laughed lightly, falling back into the bed. “Thank You,” I whispered to the universe… I got up.

“What? Thank You for what?”

I wasn’t going to tell her that I had been waiting for her to blush. I had thought she was too old. That I would never have the honor. She had a few times before… but not like that. It alone was cost enough. To lie. To travel to go find Chris and make her happy. I shook my head, “Nothing. Let me eat you, and we will call it quits.” I picked her up and threw her on the bed. Kneeling down in front of her, I lifted her knees and pushed open her thighs. Ripping off the panties. Her eyes were already closed, waiting. I couldn’t get enough of her. I never would.

***

Shumaan

Juliet and I didn’t go back to the tower. We traveled to Shumaan. Like Juliet had said, there was no one.

She hurried over to a little nook carved out in the wall, replacing the communicator. It worked. I kissed her, and she sent Liam a message. We needed to tell someone. They were lying for us. They were pretending to be babysitting in France.

We had snuck out in the most remote teleporter in the chamber. I was kinda excited. It was like an adventure… One that no one would ever be able to look back on… except her and me.

It had not taken us years. With all of us working around the clock, it was only December. We were early. But Juliet’s birthday was in March. The branding needed to happen before then. Chris had to give an opinion. We just hoped that they came south earlier than they did going north. She removed the plate again and put back the broken one.

She took my hand. I had Sammy in my arms, and we walked. We checked some of the houses as we passed them. We had the city to ourselves, and it was great. They really were all the same. Some were bigger than others. All empty. No clothes. No food cupboards. No freezers… No blankets… Nothing. They took absolutely everything with them to Yaroon.

We were wondering why no guards were protecting that specific site. Every other one we had tried in the last year was always a close call. The river was already running, and the ice had melted entirely. We had clean water, and that was already a bonus.

I could put Sammy down. She ran, but it was so open and the road so long through the city that it didn’t matter... Juliet loved to chase her. And she loved to be pursued.

Juliet took us to Chris’s house. Where he and Ira lived.

We decided that we needed to be as far away as possible from there. So we chose a house on the outskirts. We had no idea how long they would be… So we got settled and got into a routine… It was actually a blessing. To be able to just acclimate together. Get a lay of the land. See how they lived. It was the first time Juliet and I was together… Alone... Sammy was there. But that didn’t count.

They had fields and plantations. It wasn’t big, and a small variety of plants had germinated and taken root. I could eat some of it… For backup, we had packed for an extended stay… Juliet and Sammy could eat there, so I lived off oats and noodles. Riphath vegetables… Love and Water.

***

One morning when I woke up. Juliet and Sammy weren’t in bed. I got up, thinking that they were safe. Swimming or searching for little beasts they could hunt. Or so I thought. Until I had my first encounter with flying killer birds overhead. I heard them from far off. They came into view, and all I could do was hide. There was really no way I would be able to do anything. My nine-mill pistol seemed a bit redundant.

They circled the site a few times until they finally decided to leave. I walked down the main road. It wasn’t like we could miss each other. But I couldn’t find her. When I passed Chris’s house, I heard them. Slowly I made my way inside. They were in his room, sitting on the floor. Juliet had a pink book in her hands. It was the infamous diary. I chuckled. She glanced up at me and smiled. I went to sit next to her. I glanced up at the wall. Saw her message carved out in the plaster.

“Is the whole galaxy reading my freaking journals? I wished I never kept any.”

“It is a bit unfair… That Louis gets to be in your head, and we don’t.”

She scoffed at me… I snorted back. I took her chin in my hand and kissed her. “You should have woke me up.”

Sammy was mesmerized by the pictures of Chris in the front of the diary.

“Daddy.” Juliet tried Sammy to say. Pointing at all the photos of Chris.

All she did was get up and come to me. “Daddy.” I smiled.

“Michael… can I ask you a question.”

“Sure.”

“Why don’t you talk to me?”

I took a moment, but there were so many reasons. Before, I talked a lot.

“I don’t know? I just want to be with you. If I am… I’m happy. I’m a guy… Don’t really want to go digging where it’s not needed.”

“You said you don’t need anything from me. You have been home for so long. The few times we spent together were just after you started feeling better. I had to begin serious training when Marcus returned, and after that one day… After Marcus took me on our honeymoon… Everything was different.”

“I know. I am… Everything is… different.”

“Is that a bad thing? Or are you thinking of moving on? Have your feelings changed at all?”

I turned to her. Sammy had gone to explore the house. “How could you ask that?”

She closed the diary… “It’s… just not easy between us… Anymore.”

My eyes cast to the floor. It was always effortless. We were friends, and it wasn’t always just physical.

“The branding doesn’t really mean we have to be together. You don’t have to settle for this… You can still go and find that waitress…. You could still change your mind.”

Our eyes locked… And I wished that I could read hers. Wished that she was still on a screen talking to herself or Charlene… Writing in her diary… She had stopped that a while ago… Together with the chains and the ring that still hung in France. No one knew what she was thinking.

Juliet manifested and jumped up, running out of the room. She grabbed Sammy and came back towards me. She went to stand at the door frame around the corner. She nudged me up and over to her. I finally heard the growling. A low roar, sniffing, and an open mouth. The steady footfalls of something… It was a beast. She handed Sammy to me and nudged over to the window. “Go and don’t look back.” She whispered.

The noises were coming into the house. I could hear the tread changing. Juliet had disappeared just as she cocked the gun. I stood outside the window and prayed that they didn’t hunt in packs.

I started weaving with Sammy through the houses towards the city’s outskirts. Avoiding the main road. It was tricky. The terrain uneven. My heart was pounding. I heard the first shot pausing for a moment. A second one. Her voice echoed through the emptiness of the place. “It’s dead!” She screamed. “It was alone.”

Sammy and I made our way into the street. Juliet was dragging a massive beast down the road. The little girl wriggled in my arm for me to put her down. She could smell it. Her little fangs that filled her mouth were biting into it. They had not eaten in a few days.

I sat next to them as they fed. They smiled at each other, playing with their food. I took out my pocket knife and helped them. I cut open the stomach, and the guts flooded out. It stank so much that I retched.

Sammy loved it and grabbed at the entrails. I vomited again… Juliet laughing at me. “That wasn’t very clever… How do you know we won’t attract anything else with this smell.”

“I had not thought of that.” I glanced over my shoulder. She came over and held out the water bottle to me. “You need to dig out the bullets. It won’t work if they get back and there is a carcass with two holes in its head.”

The ground started rumbling. “Earthquake?” She asked and stepped over to Sammy that reluctantly went with her.

“I don’t think so….”

We started running. I took Sammy from her. We dared to turn back. A beast twice that one’s size came out of the sand. It grabbed the carcass and pulled it into the sand, disappearing. Juliet giggled nervously. Sammy was brave, but she was clutching onto me. I stroked her back.

***